Street Manual

A field guide for street photographers.

by Luke Carey

TechniquesPremium card1 hour

Motion Blur (Subject)

Slow shutter - 1/15 or slower. Static camera (or near-static). Moving subject. They blur. The world around them stays sharp. A person walking becomes a smear of motion through a still environment.

Works well with crowds - one person moving differently from those around them, or everyone moving at once.

Watch for: complete subject abstraction. You want enough of the subject visible that they read as human. A full blur is often less interesting than a partial one.

Camera Settings

Shutter: 1/15 or slower | Camera: tripod or braced | ISO: low

This is a premium card

Get the full deck — 150+ prompt cards with complete technique breakdowns, assignments, and camera settings. One purchase for lifetime access, a founding price for our first 50 members before it moves to a subscription.

Get the full deck